A real challenge!

I am in the 4th week of my summer vacation in India. Amidst kids nagging how bored they are, and this and that,  we are gearing up for returning back to home after another 2 weeks!
I really was tempted to make a card yesterday,  and the big problem was that I absolutely have nothing when it comes to supplies here *phew*, I miss my craft station at home :(
I got done some nice custom made stamps here and I have 3 A4size card stocks in blue and purple colors only.
So I decided to try my hand at making a card with what I have. 

 The supplies I had on hand!

The rainbow and the birds are up cycled.

And finally the humble card I made :) It was very challenging to make this card, but I am very satisfied considering the supplies I had!

Linking this card with 

Casology

Simon Says Stamp

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind  feedback :) Have a great day!

ATSM #106

Today the ATSM  challenge is anything goes,  so I chose some pattern paper to work with.  I have a big collection of pattern paper in my stash and wanted to put these to use.
I chose a floral pattern paper, cut into stripes. A vanilla card stock as base. I simply used adhesive to add the pattern paper to the card stock creating a diagonal stripes pattern. Added a complimenting purple and a beaded lace plus a tiny sheer bloom.
Stamped the sentiment and added to the bottom most and done.

The process

I hope to see what you can come up with this fun challenge, see you at ATSM.

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind  feedback :) Have a great day!

Sponged candles ~ ATSM #104

I made this card for the ATSM #104 as my DT inspiration card. I made this card with one of my favorite techniques - sponging. I love sponging on cards, and particularly candles. I like the soft look after the sponging.
For this card, I used a blue textured card stock with a white front panel. Sponged 2 candles with a blue ink, and flames with yellow ink. Finally stamped the sentiment,  l  love the small added part of the  sentiment very much. A few tiny blings to finish off.

I hope to see you there at ATSM, we have an amazing sponsor - Eureka Stamps, and the winner gets 3 free digis. 

Linking this card with the Curtain Call Challenge.

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind  feedback :) Have a great day!

Pan fried Salmon steak

I am in the second week of my vacation at Hyderabad, the monsoon has reached and it is much cooler than few days back, and my hands were tickling for some blogging, since I am away from my crafting supplies, and cannot make any cards, I thought of sharing a recipe.

Today I am sharing a salmon fish recipe, as the name suggests it is a pan fried dish, super quick, and a favorite among people of all ages.

Ingredients:

Salmon steak/ salmon butterfly fillet - 2

 ginger + garlic paste - 1TBsp

 crushed peppercorns/ black pepper - 1/4 tsp

olive oil - 1/2 TBsp

oil for shallow frying - 1TBsp

salt to taste(go easy since it is fish) 

Procedure:

1. Mix ginger garlic paste, olive oil, salt and pepper well and apply it over the fish(both sides).

let it sit for at least 30 minutes, if you are in a rush then go ahead and cook it right away.

2.Heat oil in a shallow pan, and cook the steak on each side for a minimum of 7-8 minutes, take extra care while flipping the fish, to keep it intact.

 

3.Shallow frying

4. the other side

Ready to eat, you can serve it with a salad on the side or with baked potatoes. I serve it as a side dish along with rice and dal.

Hope you enjoy this simple dish.

Happy Birthday Monika

Just  a card to wish a very happy and wonderful birthday to my fellow DT Monika at ATSM, head over to STAMPlorations blog to wish Monika a happy birthday.
Currently I am away on my holiday, so sharing a card which I made earlier.
For this card,  I chose a kraft color card stock, sponged some flowers and leaves.
I added some green glitter on the leaves, and also some beads for the center of the flowers. Finally a simple sentiment of wind off the card.
A very simple looking card.

Once again a very happy birthday to Monika, I wish you a funtabulous day and a happy and healthy year ahead!

Sorry for a bad picture :( can't correct it right away, once I am back in Macau will update a new picture. 

Samosa - A savory treat

Hello everyone, I am in Hyderabad for my summer and away from my crafting supplies,  so will be adding a recipe every now and then.

 Adding a picture of Hyderabad, it is very hot and bright,  I wish I have this house in Macau, I will have my own room for crafting!

There are a couple of people who are following my recipes,  and I feel bad for them for not adding, but most of them are family and close friends, so I will be forgiven ;)
Today I am sharing the recipe of Samosas, it is the most famous Indian snack. Plus very famous among my cooking class girls too. Traditionally it is a veg dish, with potatoes filling, but nowadays you can find meat samosas too.

 

But I stick to the tradition and make only veg samosas. There are tons of variations available for this recipe.  This one is my home recipe,  and will be definitely different. 

Ingredients and procedure :

For the pastry:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Caraway seeds - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1/2 TBsp
Water to knead the dough

Procedure :

In a medium sized bowl,  mix in all the ingredients except water. Add water little by little and knead the dough. Your dough should be on the harder side, so my advice here is add water sparingly.
Once you knead the dough, cover it and put aside. 

For filling:

Boiled and mashed potatoes - 1 cup

fresh peas - 1/4 cup

1 green chili finely chopped

1 small onion finely chopped

turmeric - 1/4 tsp

red.chili powder - 1/4 tsp (if you don't want too spicy then choose only r. chili powder, no green chili)

mint leaves  - 1/2 TBsp(no need to chop)

fresh coriander leaves chopped

Chat masala - 1/4 tsp

Amchoor(dry mango powder) - 1/4 tsp

salt to taste

1 tsp oil

Procedure:

Heat oil in a medium sized pan, and fry the onions till golden brown, add the peas, and saute for 5 minutes. now add the potatoes and all the above ingredients and mix well and cook for about 5 minutes and remove from heat. your filling is ready.

I don't have the pictures for the fillings, will click and update when I make next.

                      About to knead the dough

After kneading the dough and letting it sit for 

sometime, knead again for 5-10 minutes till it is soft, and looks like this.

 

 Take a small lime sized dough and roll it in between your palms to make a ball.

Roll it in  an oval shape.

Now cut this in half.

Scoop in a TBsp spoon full of filling

This fold is the most important part, fold from the middle, and then take the bottom and seal it in. If you take long time to do this, then I would highly recommend you to apply a bit of water on the rolled pastry before folding to ensure that it sticks well.

A good fold will let your samosa sit on its own.

I always make quite a few, these are now ready to be deep fried in oil.

I usually fry some and freeze the rest for later use, all you need to do is remove from the freezer and fry immediately, no need to thaw.

Heat oil in a deep pan to a low temperature, and fry the samosas, it will take at least 15 minutes for the pastry to become golden brown and crisp.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup , or any chutneys..I like it with Indian tea.

I can guarantee you that if you follow the recipe and make, you will be treating yourself to a very yummy savory treat.

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind  feedback :) Have a great day!

Felt mania

I made this card for my niece,  her birthday is coming soon, since I will be away from my supplies, I always make her card here and take it to Hyderabad.
For kids I usually make pop up cards. Its a nice surprise for them when they open the card. I chose a garden and flowers theme for this card,  since she loves  flowers.
I have plenty of felt sitting in my stash, so thought of using it for this card.
For the outside,  I chose a pale green card stock, and front panel is a spring collection pp. I punched a heart,  added a jar plus again some felt flowers and leaves.
The inside is done with a shaded pale green card stock. Added some creepers and stamped the sentiment around the creepers. A butterfly and a dragonfly plus some big bright blooms. Some sequin flowers  to finish off.
Not my usual style card,  but sometimes I do make these types of cards for certain occasions.  Pop up cards are my favorite,  I always give my kids complicated 3D pop up cards, and the making takes days sometimes. 

Its a big card, and was pretty hard to get the right pictures!

Posting this card for the 

Create something Catchy

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind  feedback :) Have a great day!

Hello my friend

A simple card, but I totally adore this cutie. This card isn't inspired by any challenge. I made it for Kylie's linky birthday party.  used some bright cheery colors, and the sentiment is just a hello. Even though I haven't seen or met her in person, but I am sure she is a girl with a great personality,  I wish Kylie a very happy birthday, a grwat day with family and friends plus a wonderful year ahead. 

Some cards

Hello everyone this is my second post of the day, to go the previous post about the  ATSM Challenge - click here .

 I am running around crazy with all my packing getting done for my summer holiday, which starts in 2days.
Plus I wanted to do these cards too ;) can't help it.
The first card is made using die cuts, I chose a brown base card stock and a baby pink front to do this card.

I had used the inlaid die cut technique to do this, First cut the leaves, and then I chose a green pattern paper to cut again the leaves and then inlaid them in, this one reminded me of doing a jigsaw puzzle with my kids a few years back. It has quite a few tiny paper pieces which I was scared to lose!

After the inlaid die cut flower done, I used the flower stencil to do sponging on the card front using some orange and magenta ink.

Added a brown ribbon, a tiny matching bloom on the bigger one, and alos a button and a rhine stone to finish the flower.

Finally stamped the sentiment from STAMPlorations, I am using it again and again since I got these from Shery on their last blog hop, they are having a birthday hop, do go and see and there is a chance of winning their stamp sets for you!

 

 

Posting this card to the 

Virginia's View Challenge

This card will be my sole entry for this challenge, since I will be away from my craft supplies, I cannot make any cards, just looking and getting inspired.

Everything I had used on this card is with die cuts, even the inking!

Lulupu Challenge

I had chosen, die cuts, stamping, mist/spray(sponging) from the bingo grid.

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The second one is a sweet and simple card, I chose a blue and white shaded card stock, it can be interpreted as sky or sea

my sentiment is the hero here(from Words to rescue by Steve Fadie), first I stamped the sentiment and then worked around the card. added some roses with foam adhesive to give some dimension to the roses, then drew a speech bubble around the roses and added a sticker and the tiny speech bubbles.

Posting this card to the CASology

I chose a sentiment to go with the cue word, and then worked around the card! The sentiments is about floating thoughts, and in real life thoughts do float hehehe :)

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind  feedback :) Have a great day!

ATSM #102

Hello everyone,  today's post is a very special one for me. This is my first ever DT post, I am very lucky to work with a very creative team at Addicted to Stamps and More. There are so many creative girls on this team, loads of inspiration for everyone, in different styles of card making.

  Today's challenge is 'Make your Mark', you can use markers, color pencils, paints, sewing or any such thing to do this. I chose to do stitching.
I hand drew the balloons and pierced holes and one big hole in the center, used eyelet stitch to the balloons. Its pretty easy, you need to take stitches from center to the holes around your image. I chose a shaded thread to do this. Added a flying string and my favorite sentiment and done. 

 

The process

I pierced the inside holes to the edges, since this is how I wanted my stitched balloons to look, you can chose the placing of the center hole as per your wish.

We have a wonderful sponsor for this challenge, and the winner will get 5 free digis.

I hope to see you there with your creations, hop on now to the ATSM challenge blog to be more inspired by the other DT's creations!

I would like to enter this card for the Curtain Call Challenge

It is a birthday card!

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind  feedback :) Have a great day!